The Wings Of Freedom
by Harvey McScorpius
Summary: "These cages have thrice kept us from flight," he is reported to have said. That was all the convincing Erwin needed. SEVERELY AU, in case you were wondering. Edward E., Eren Y., Asuna Y., Finny, Hikaru H., Kaoru H. Characters below have little significance but some all the same.
1. The Story So Far

Since the beginning of human history, we have paid a blood tribute to the bloodthirsty Titans, giant creatures with a taste for human blood. These monstrosities began to devour us without reason, until the political leader of that time made a deal with them. Once every two years, they would be given one thousand men and women between the ages of 25-45 to be given to the Titans as a sacrifice to stem the flow of hellish bloodshed they rained down on us when we did not meet their requirements. Revolt after revolt rose up against the oppressive giants, each one being crushed by the apt Armed Forces Premier ( and unknown to the world, Humonculus)Nile Dok, and his currentcommanders(though most think they are nothing more than pawns or henchmen), Riko Bryzenska-Pixis and Auruo Bossard.

The revolts began to worsen, with one occurring about every ten years. The Titans were forced to send their "criminals"(only able to be said if one also assumes they have some sort of society; this is likely not the case, despite the Titans's intelligence.) to build three massive Walls around the entire population of the human race, trapping us within and entombing inside the Walls many of the Titans that had been sent to build them. Despite the best efforts of those who still believed in such novel concepts as "freedom", the lands within the Walls remained enslaved and owing their flesh and blood to the Titans.

But one man would not accept defeat at the hands of such scum as Titans.

His name was Ian Dietrich-Pixis. The son of the legendary would be revolutionary Dot Pixis, and brother to both Riko Bryzenska-Pixis and Mitabi Yarnach-Pixis, Ian was forced to watch his father be devoured at trial near the age of ten. The boy was alone in the world, his mother having perished of Malaria the year before his father's death, and his brother and sister fighting on opposite sides of a bloody conflict. Soon Dot Pixis's revolt group was broken, and Mitabi put on trial and killed. Having lost nigh everything he had, Ian reached out to a childhood friend of his, Erwin Smith. "These Walls have thrice kept us from flight," he is reported to have said. This was all the convincing Erwin needed.

And so, in secret, the Wings Of Freedom, the first military level organized revolt group, was born.

At first, hopes for the group were, at best, gray. But as more and more people of variou talents began to join the righteous cause, even some of Nile Dok's own State Alchemists, the revolution that Wings Of Freedom were bringing looked like and turned out to be one of the most successful in history, its size, intel gain, and military strength rivaling that of even the Central Throneholders.

But where our story begins is with a group cobbled together from horror, love, and iron will. A family of serpents, spiders, and foxes.

First there is Eren Yaeger, the boy who's bullets cannot miss.

Then there is Edward Elric, the Alchemist who's transmutations always yield full metal.

Next is Asuna Yuki, the girl who's blade shall make true sword art.

After her we have the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, the knife thrower and the dagger thrower, at once nothing alike and the same.

And last is Finny, the gardener who's fists will blacken any butler.

Their and our story begins at Mrs. Hannah's Orphanage For The Lost, Murderous, Or Abandoned.

But that story will be written on a later date.

**After having read _Eren Jaeger And The Buch Der Diebe,_I had to write something like it. Check that fic out, though. Pretty good. Its supposed to be Sly Cooper but AOT. By KinnWykkyd57. BTW this fic was intended to be a crossover between the five best anime ever, which explains the amount of characters from different continuities.**


	2. Forced To War

**This was an idea I've had in my head for over a year now. My fantasy novel has come to a grinding halt, and I feel like I'd write guns and tanks better than swords and spells. This is a military AU fanfic, and will include characters from the following anime, participating in hilariously exaggerated feats of killing(meaning they're INSANELY good soldiers):**

**Attack On Titan**

**Black Butler**

**Sword Art Online**

**Ouran Host Club**

**Fullmetal Alchemist**

**Deadman Wonderland**

**The Devil Is A Part Timer**

**Rosario Vampire**

**Freezing**

**And others. Now, let's begin!**

"I wanna join the Wings Of Freedom!" Asuna Yuki said to her adoptive mother, Hannah, as the latter slurped down her last few bites of scalloped potatoes. As the shock from the comment slowly drained out of Hannah's face, a motherly look crossed her.

"Oh, Asuna!" She half laughed. "Why on earth would you want to throw away your life like that? Even if their rebellion succeeded, they'd still have the Titans to face. And everyone knows how that turns out."

Asuna, evidently disheartened a little, stared into her own potatoes. She twirled them around with her fork as she pouted into them.

"Maybe...maybe they'll beat the Titans too! Look at all the other rebels in the past. None of them have lasted anywhere near as long as the Wings Of Freedom. Just...who knows is all I meant..."

"Ah, sis," yelled her brother Edward from across the table. "You know they can't be beaten, right? You know how many times it's been tried?"

Annoyed by her blonde braided sibling, the girl threw her fork on the table and faced the wall.

"Nice going, Ed," the twins Hikaru and Kaoru whispered in either ear of their brother. Ed's expression turned to indignation.

"Wha- oh, come ON, guys. You know I'm right! Finny? Eren?" He said, his eyes wide with outrage.

The last two brothers sat quietly on the left side of the table, Finny's small hand shaking as he held his spoonful of soup. Eren was beside him, holding him steady and looking sternly at Ed.

"Hey man, tone it down a bit," he warned. "If you wanna keep Asuna from dreaming, we'll put you in the same boat as her."

Ed's face grew scrunched with anger, but for all his blustering he could not think of a comeback. Eren smirked, pleased with the takedown he'd initiated.

"Fair play," he said matter-of-factly.

"Alright, kids," Hannah quickly said, looking to each of them with a serious face. "I will hear no more talk of any rebel group, Wings Of Freedom or other, under this roof again. Is that understood?"  
"Bu-" Asuna began, but was stopped by her mother.  
"Is that understood?" Every syllable was punctuated with a light crack of her palm on the table. The entire assemblage fell quiet.

Then, a loud, almost automated "Yes." was heard from each child.

Once again, Hannah's face softened as she dismissed the children to bed.

Asuna couldn't sleep that night. Invisible seraphim flitted around on her brain, clouding her thoughts and serenity. An itch in the back of her mind kept her awake, a...tickle that told her something was amiss. But what, the red haired girl couldn't possibly guess. All she did know was that an ominous air permeated the room she slept in, her only solace the fan that blew up into the ceiling. She climbed out of her bunk, down the ladder with tentative steps, and kneeled in front of Eren's bed.

"Uh...Eren?" She whispered before shaking her brother awake.

"Huuaaa," Eren yawned as he rubbed his tired eyes. "What is it, Peaches?"

Asuna's eyes crinkled in amusement at the nickname, but all the same she replied with repellent.

"Don't call me that," she responded. "But...umm...do you feel anything?"

"Oh yeah, plenty. The blankets, the pillows, the springs..."

"No, you dummy. Like...something internal."

"You mean emotional?"

"Yeah. That's it."

Eren propped himself up on his elbows, stretching his back and then looking at Asuna.

"I can't say I do," he answered. "But it feels kind of foreboding. Like a-"

"Tornado's about to hit," Asuna finished. "To tell the truth I'm...k-kinda scared. E-Eren, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Well gosh, Asuna, I don't know you thought of me th-" Eren began.

"Oh, freaking forget it."

"Hey, sis. I was just kidd-"

The door to their house was slammed open so hard that it could easily have been mistaken for a clap of thunder. Amazingly, it failed to awaken anybody but Ed.

"What's go-" the blonde started to say, but Eren held up a finger to silence him. Then he got up out of bed and slowly approached the door. Eren's caramel skinned fingers creaked the door open, only to close it instantly.

"He's back," he said grimly. " And drunk. Big shocker."

Already, shouts and crazed grunting began to emanate from the room immediately north of the front door.

"Hey!"the voice of Claude, their adoptive father, said. "Where are ya? I need ta have some words with ya!"

As Eren opened the door again, Claude's voice had awoken Hikaru, Kaoru, and Finny. Those three crowded to the thin slice of light coming from between the door and the doorframe. Hannah had come out of the dining room, a plate of the same dinner the children had clutched in her small hands. She had a smile on her face, but years of living with Claude and his nature told them that it was forced.

Claude, on the other hand, looked terrible. His collared shirt was torn open to reveal a pale, alabaster chest. His glasses were lopsided on his face, and his hair had large clumps missing from it, as if torn out by a clawed beast. His eyes were wide with fury, though it was most likely undeserved, for even from their distance from him, his children could smell the vodka wafting away from him to their nostrils.

"Oh, hello honey!" Hannah said as her forced smile became almost hellish. "I made scalloped potatoes ton-"

"No no!" Claude yelled as he stumbled around. "This isn't-this isn't about dinner! I couldn't see it till a few minutes ago, had no idea, but now I see! These kids are driving me insane! You too! I dun know why I ever fucked you, or married you or even met you! I been takin every night shift I could, an' you've just been sittin' in here and playing with those things! Most work you've ever had is makin' food! I'm not gonna be the only pillar for us anymore!"

By now Hannah had tears forming in her eyes.

"C-Claude...hon...c'mon...this isn't you..."  
" YOU DON'T GET TO TALK!"  
Then the sound of flesh smacking flesh.

Finny began to cry softly, his small shoulders shaking ever so slightly as the tears flowed. Eren tried to put an arm around him, and succeeded. The tiny boy recoiled a little from the touch, but he relaxed slowly as Eren ran his arms up and down Finny's back. With each smack, Finny's shoulders grew more and more hunched, and unknown to the rest of them, the rage in his heart grew and grew.

A hideous cracking noise emanated from out in the hallway, and everyone knew what had happened.

Then Finny broke entirely.

The nine year old burst from the closet and launched himself at Claude. The drunken figure went down easily, as Finny and him wrestled about on the ground. Finny had the advantage, surprisingly, and started to rain savage blows down on Claude, inhuman smacking sounds ringing out each time he struck. They only got harder and harsher, and Claude's arms began to droop against the assault. Tears continued to drip from Finny's blue eyes, rage and obvious overwhelming reflected in them, even as he drew back fists with his adoptive father's blood on them. His hands weren't the only thing assaulting Claude, as he spat out, "You think you can hurt mommy? You think you can do that?! This is what you get, you evil man!"

Soon it was over.

Claude was still, and his arms and legs were bent in a disturbing, twisted way. His nose had been utterly crushed, bits of cartilage sticking out of the ruined flesh ever so slightly. His purple hair was matted with blood and his golden eyes lay lifeless.

Claude was dead.

His nine year old son had shattered every bone in his body.

Then there was Finny, standing over his adoptive father, blood staining his hands and face. A look of utter despair crossed his features. Again, he began to cry and brought his bloodstained hands to his face to contain his tears. Eren ran to him, throwing his arms around him and gripping him close.

"I-I didn't mean to...I didn't want to watch it anymore..." he sobbed into Eren's arms. The latter boy's turquoise orbs flitted to Hannah. The dark woman seemed to be alright. Of course, if one decided to overlook the numerous welts on her face and her twisted nose. Despite her injuries, Hannah seemed less than attached to her son, who was obviously in pain. In fact the woman appeared downright apathetic. She pulled out a small cell phone from her back pocket, plugged in an attachment vaguely shaped like a wafer, and dialed an unknown number into it.

"This is Recruitment Overseer Anafeloz," she said coldly into the cell. "The subjects are ready."

The phone entered her pocket as a small dartgun replaced it. With careful aim, she hit Finny in the back of the head, and Eren in the right shoulder. The pain seared through his arm as he doubled over, his vision swimming. In the scant seconds he had before he went unconscious, Eren heard four more pops of the gun and four more thumps.

Then all was black.


	3. A Taste Of The Life

**Six Years Later**

Ian Dietrich stared into the faces of ten or so fresh faced, enthusiastic recruits. The lot of them were eager, ready to be loosed onto the battlefield. Odds were they expected to win the war in a few months or so, and come back to their hometowns as the liberating heroes. Ian barely contained his disgust. If that was indeed their ideology, they might as well have become Janitors. The enemy army was full of soldiers like that, who though they were crushing a band of lawless terrorists. That was the first notion Ian hoped to crush out of them using these men and women.

"Recruits," he began. "I am Ian Dietrich, Premier of the Wings Of Freedom. You're all here, I assume, to fight under our banner and get us out from under Nile Dok's foot. Eventually, we hope that this will lead to the defeat of the Titans as well. This, however, is easier said than done. Most of you have probably been spoonfed the tales of the "terrorists" that plague the Territories and threaten every facet of peace the government's built. But I can assure you, we're far more than that. We're here to make sure another human being is never fed to a Titan. We're here to overthrow a government who would slaughter us like cattle, trade us for luxury, and then expect us to build their cities and fight in their armies! We're here to kill Nile Dok, the orchestrator of our suffering! Every one of you will give your heart, soul, resolve! I'll take all of it, melt it down into a weapon so deadly it'll shatter their efficiency and annihilate their corruption! If humanity's ever to escape our fate, we'll need to burn away all the filth that pins us down! It may be far from now, but I swear, give everything you have and you'll see yourself free!"

The new soldiers cheered, raising their arms in triumph and determined looks on many of their faces. Ian himself smirked only a little, darting his eyes across the recruits and the dark steel around them. Two girls and nine boys. Two tall, golden eyes boys with red hair, and a shorter girl who could almost be their sister. A brown skinned boy of dark hair and cyan eyes, standing protectively close to a smaller male of peach colored hair and bright blue orbs. The last one that looked noteworthy, or even remotely interested in killing Janitors, was a short boy, the shortest of them all, with golden irises to match the thick braid flowing from his head. This young man, however, had the most interesting feature of them all. A steel, robotic arm substituted his right one, the grey color poking out from the sleeves of his red vest.

"You four," he spoke to the four he hadn't taken notice of. "The troops are mobilizing soon. Name and standing."

"Armin Arlert, Aide to Admiral Armstrong."

"Yoh Takami. Squad 23, Regiment 7, Battalion 8."

"Tskune Aono, Unique Operations Squad 5."

"Kokoa Akashi-"

The crimson haired, green eyed girl never even finished her name before Ian had his hand around her throat and had slammed her head against the metal wall behind her. Her teeth gritted together and she scrabbled at his fingers. Ian reached to his back pocket and fished out a smooth black pistol. The weapon had a circular barrel, and a sharp, tusk-like blade protruded out from above it. The Premier pressed the muzzle of the weapon to Kokoa's temple.

"Your orders?" he said quietly to her. She spat in his face, the liquid dripping down his face and pitter pattering on the floor below him. "Just do this my way. I've had my fair share of assassins and I promise I'll only put a few bullets in your face when I kill you."

Kokoa still tore at his fingers around her neck, a fierce scowl on her face as she looked into Ian's unintimidated eyes.

"Eliminate you. Bring you down in the middle of your big fucking inspirational speech. Would've been great for the recording device I've pinned to me."

"Maybe someday, bitch. Just not today. Oh, and taking Commander Akashiya's name? Both unoriginal and insensitive."

Ian pulled the trigger and a flash of light and noise sent a shockwave through the room. Kokoa's head was partially blown away, revealing the various inner workings of her skull and brain. The would be assassin went limp, and Ian's hand around her now blood drenched neck went back to his side. Kokoa's body fell to the ground and leaked blood from it, which rapidly spread from her into a pool.

Ian turned his indifferent gaze from the body to Armin, Yoh and Tskune, all of whom, judging by their facial expressions, were about ready to piss themselves after witnessing the brutal killing.

"Mr. Aono, you'll want to report to Major Klein in Squadron 5. He'll get you up to speed on the operations the U.O. groups perform. You other two?" He gestured to Armin and Yoh. "Report to your stations and don't keep the officers waiting."

All three of the recruits left. Ian was now facing the other six, the ones in whose eyes he'd seen some true steel. A bit of determination to kill Janitors. And judging by their records, they would perform that task admirably. The only one that Ian couldn't exactly be sure of was the small one, with peachy hair and eyes the color of the sky. He was powerful, no doubt, one of the Experimentals. The genetically altered humans had mostly died out not too soon after the initial process, but this boy and several others came out of the experiment with strength enhanced a hundred fold.

The boy's real problem, Ian guessed, was his tenderness. He could see that even now, he hid behind his companion. He wasn't yet ready for battle. None of them were, but he was a gentle soul, a good one. That needed to be eliminated, especially in someone of his power.

"The last of you. Name, score in Basic Training, and school of training," he said to the six recruits.

"Eren Yaeger, 93.5%, Assault School."

"Asuna Yuki, 94%, Marksman and Blade Schools."

"Edward Elric, 96.8%, Alchemy School."

"Hikaru Hitachiin, 95%, Blade School."

"Kaoru Hitachiin, 95%, Blade School."

"Finny Taylor, 92.3%, Close Quarters School."

Ian nodded, pleased with the skill set he'd been given. He pressed a button behind the console in the center of the room, causing six slots of metal netting to pop out of the wall. Hanging on each was a lined, jet black shiny suit, slightly raised armored plating covering the black on the forearms, shoulders, chest, knees, and shins.

"Specially tailored Hazardous Environment Contingency suits, or, H.E.C. Don't bother buying anything black, they're skin tight and lightly bulletproof. Completely immune to small arms and submachine gun fire. Also doesn't require any wardrobe changes."

He looked each of them straight in the eye before continuing.

"You all are officially the sixth Unique Operations Squadron in our group. In the hangars, there's a blast door with a big shark painted on the front. It blocks a chamber big enough for you all to be comfortable. Get in there and make yourselves at home."

The group spoke the first words they had since entering the Recruitment Chambers with a booming "Sir, yes sir!"

U.O. Squadron 6 filed out of the Chamber, Ian Dietrich's gaze following them out.

* * *

The halls were busy; engineers hard at work on machines and weaponry, troopers practicing maneuvers or doing target training. The group of Hikaru, Kaoru, Eren, Asuna, Ed and Finny attracted quite a few pairs of eyes. It was probably attributed to the fact that many soldiers present had been there for years, and were used to seeing soldiers in U.O. Squads. So to see six brand new faces wearing H.E.C. suits must've been different for them.

But all the eyes instantly focused their attention elsewhere, and all bodies instantly backed up several feet as another group walked down the hallway. No engineers worked, no troops shot, all was quiet as one U.O. Squad faced down another.

Chief among the opposite soldiers was a tall, thin, impossibly pale man, whose eyes glowed with a blood red color. He wore a fine black suit and carried butter knives in one hand. The next soldier was a boy around Eren's age. His eyes were the color of metal, and his hair fell down his face in messy, dark strands. Two glittering black swords gleamed menacingly in their carriers on his back, and his expression seemed that of someone who is enraged far too easily.

The nearest boy in a H.E.C. suit was slightly darker than his compatriots, with messy dark grey hair that tufted up in the front, slightly reminiscent of a unicorn. He was clad in his suit and little else, save for a pair of fairly large submachine guns that hung from his waist. He led along a blonde girl near his age, who he was kissing ravenously. Not an ounce of shame.

The last two were probably the kindest looking. The first had long, pale gold hair that hung to his chin, and golden eyes that sparkled like treasure. His attire could be said to be a less revealing version of the standard H.E.C. suit, and a long barreled rocket launcher hung from his back. The second was a woman, with blue hair, purple eyes and rosy cheeks that got her the most looks from the soldiers on either side of the hall. Her figure was highly developed, and she was unarmed save for a small, red button on her thumb. Probably a see through glove of some kind.

"Somebody fuckin' explain to me," the second soldier yelled. "Who the hell let the kids come to the poker game?"

A man in the crowd, shaking from either giddy excitement or fear, blurted out, "N-not sure, Mr. Kirito!"

Ed gave him a long look and rolled his eyes at the sword-wielder. "Ian Dietrich. Who else?"

Kirito glanced at Ed, specifically his metal arm, and then diverted his gaze elsewhere. "Wasn't asking you, ya fucking cripple. You ought to be on a bicycle team, not a goddamn military unit."

Ed gasped in horror, then furious rage. Both sides were stunned at Kirito's undeserved cruelty, but that was the least of their problems as Ed charged his black garbed opponent. His leg swiped swiftly at Kirito, but when it touched the ground the sword-wielder was gone. Side stepped to the right, Ed found, as the other boy's foot planted itself on Ed's ribs. The blonde went flying into a vehicle and was barely able to block Kirito's furious swipe with his blade.

Caught it in the very metal hand he'd used to insult the Alchemist.

"How's that for cripp-" Ed boasted with a smirk on his face, until he felt Kirito's other blade against his throat.

The black haired boy's eyes were wide and his nostrils flared menacingly.

"You come after me again, _cripple_, and I won't care what Dietrich did or didn't do. I'll fucking kill you."

And for one moment, Ed was truly terrified.

Until he saw Asuna's fist collide with his near-killer's face and send him to the ground.

"Yeah, we get it," she told him matter-of-factly. "You're the bad boy on your team. Back it the hell up, would you?"

The sword-wielder got up, a small welt on his face. "You bitch-"

But before he could continue, Asuna had turned around and left. "There'll be another way around, guys."

Ed felt it was probably the least deadly decision to follow her.


End file.
